Diego
Costa is
eager to
begin his
second
spell at
Atletico
Madrid
after
spending
the last
three months confined to the club's
training ground, shackled by the club's
ban on registering new players, the
striker said on Sunday.
"I've waited a long time for this day, I've
been working hard and training hard but
there's nothing else to do, I need to play,
I'm tired of training," Costa told a news
conference.
Costa, who fired Atletico to a first league
title in 18 years in 2014, agreed a return
to the club from Chelsea in September
for £57 million, nearly double the price he
left for more than three years ago.
He was officially presented alongside
fellow Spain teammate Vitolo – who
signed from Sevilla in July for 40 million
euros – before an open training session at
the Wanda Metropolitano stadium, which
local media said 20 000 supporters
attended.
"I'm in much better shape than when I
arrived, I've prepared well and worked
hard and I'm ready to help the team and
score goals," Costa said.
Atletico's ban on registering new players
due to the illegal transfer of minors
expires on Monday, meaning Costa could
make his debut against Lleida Esportiu in
the King's Cup on Wednesday, with his
first league appearance set for Saturday at
home to Getafe.
Atletico are second in the league but
Costa's return cannot come soon enough
for Diego Simeone's side who are nine
points adrift of leaders Barcelona and had
their confidence rocked by elimination
from the Champions League group stage.
Their defence is as resolute as ever,
conceding just eight goals in 17 games,
but they have had serious difficulties
creating and converting chances, scoring
fewer goals (25) than the other teams in
the top four.
It may not take the 29-year-old Costa
long to catch up with his new teammates.
Antoine Griezmann is Atletico's leading
marksman with five league goals but
Costa will have to prove his fitness as his
last competitive game was for Spain in a
World Cup qualifier against Macedonia on
June 11.
Since Costa departed for London in 2014,
Atletico have spent 144.5 million euros
trying to replace him.
However, Mario Mandzukic, Griezmann,
Jackson Martinez, Luciano Vietto, Kevin
Gameiro, Angel Correa and Fernando
Torres have all failed to top his 27 league
goals in 2013/14 which helped Atletico to
break Barca's and Real Madrid's nine-year
stranglehold on the title.
Costa also won two Uefa Super Cups with
Atletico and the 2013 King's Cup.
"I want to thank the club from the
bottom of the heart for the effort they
made to bring me back here," said Costa.
"Today we present a footballer who
doesn't need any introduction," said
Atletico president Enrique Cerezo.
"This is his home and we're going to give
him the best welcome possible."
????? WELCOME HOME
??????We’ve missed that smile,
@DiegoCosta .
#AúpaAtleti#BienvenidoDiegoCostapi
— Atlético de Madrid
(@atletienglish) December 31,
2017

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola
reiterated his belief his side will not
go through the Premier League
season unbeaten after their 18-game
top-flight winning run was ended by
a goalless draw at Crystal Palace.
City conceded an injury-time penalty but
goalkeeper Ederson saved from Luka
Milivojevic, prompting Match of the Day
host Gary Lineker to say Guardiola's
side have an "air of invincibility about
them".
The draw preserves their unbeaten
record in the league this season and
takes them 14 points clear at the top -
the biggest gap between the leaders and
the chasing pack at this stage of the
season in top-flight history.
Arsene Wenger's Arsenal went through
the 2003-04 Premier League season
unbeaten, but Guardiola thinks City will
not match that feat.
"I am not thinking to be unbeaten," said
Guardiola. "That is not going to happen.
"Maybe Arsene is worried about that but
I tell him many times that 2004 run is
for him. Today is completely different to
2004.
"There are now more strong teams, a lot
of competitions, a lot of games."
Guardiola left Selhurst Park with two
injury concerns - striker Gabriel Jesus
leaving the field in tears in the first
half, and playmaker Kevin de Bruyne
taken off on a stretcher after a heavy
tackle from Jason Puncheon in the final
minute.
It leaves City with only one fit senior
striker in Sergio Aguero, who came on
for Jesus.

Arsene
Wenger's
record-
breaking
day as
Arsenal
manager
ended in
frustration
as his
disjointed
side were held to a controversial 1-1 draw
at West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.
The Frenchman took charge of his 811th
Gunners league game, taking him past
Alex Ferguson's Premier League record of
810.
But his side were denied victory by Jay
Rodriguez's 89th-minute penalty, awarded
for handball against Calum Chambers to
the fury of Wenger and his players.
Arsenal had taken the lead six minutes
earlier after a deflected Alexis Sanchez
free-kick found its way into the West
Brom net via a deflection off James
McClean.
The Gunners had been frustrated for
much of the game by a resolute Albion.
Arsenal made the brighter start but might
have found themselves trailing to the first
chance of the game on six minutes.
A weaving run down the right flank by
Matt Phillips ended with a cross for
Rodriguez, who leapt highest but headed
too close to Petr Cech and the Arsenal
goalkeeper made a solid save, diving to
his left.
Cech handed the Baggies another chance
moments later when he spilled a high
cross by Kieran Gibbs at the feet of Hal
Robson-Kanu.
The Wales striker's effort was blocked and
Arsenal then snuffed out Jake Livermore's
effort to keep the move alive.
That sparked an Arsenal counter-attack as
the Gunners worked the ball to the edge
of the area, where Alexandre Lacazette
hit a shot that deflected wide.
And on 16 minutes a neat pass by
Sanchez found Alex Iwobi, who wriggled
away from Jonny Evans and bent a shot
just past the angle of post and crossbar.
West Brom continued to pass the ball
neatly but the Gunners threatened on
the break and a long-range effort by
Granit Xhaka was saved comfortably by
Ben Foster, who then turned another
shot from distance from Iwobi behind for
a corner.
WEST BROM PRESSURE
The hosts began the second half on the
front foot, with Rodriguez forcing
Chambers into a desperate challenge.
The visitors had failed to fire early in the
second half but West Brom needed Foster
to keep them at bay on the hour mark.
The Albion goalkeeper made a smart, low
save to keep out a shot from Lacazette,
who had played a neat one-two with
Iwobi before riding two challenges on the
edge of the area.
And moments later Lacazette poked a
shot just wide after Sanchez had picked
him out with a neat pass.
Arsenal had increasingly run out of ideas
and an ambitious, long-range shot from
Iwobi that Foster held easily was a sure
sign of the visitors' frustration.
The hosts threatened when Livermore
arrived at the near post to meet a cross
by substitute McClean but his effort was
blocked by Cech. And Cech was then
forced to beat away a shot from distance
by Rodriguez.
But with seven minutes remaining the
Gunners claimed the lead when Sanchez
won the decisive free-kick. He was
tripped on the edge of the 18-yard box
by a combination of Gareth Barry and
Craig Dawson.
The Chilean let fly with an effort that
struck McClean’s leg and defeated Foster.
But just minutes later Albion were level
as Chambers was punished harshly for
blocking a Kieran Gibbs cross with his arm
and Rodriguez drilled the resulting
penalty low past Cech.
Wenger lost his cool on the touchline and
was subjected to a lengthy lecture from
the referee.

Diego
Costa is
eager to
begin his
second
spell at
Atletico
Madrid
after
spending
the last
three months confined to the club's
training ground, shackled by the club's
ban on registering new players, the
striker said on Sunday.
"I've waited a long time for this day, I've
been working hard and training hard but
there's nothing else to do, I need to play,
I'm tired of training," Costa told a news
conference.
Costa, who fired Atletico to a first league
title in 18 years in 2014, agreed a return
to the club from Chelsea in September
for £57 million, nearly double the price he
left for more than three years ago.
He was officially presented alongside
fellow Spain teammate Vitolo – who
signed from Sevilla in July for 40 million
euros – before an open training session at
the Wanda Metropolitano stadium, which
local media said 20 000 supporters
attended.
"I'm in much better shape than when I
arrived, I've prepared well and worked
hard and I'm ready to help the team and
score goals," Costa said.
Atletico's ban on registering new players
due to the illegal transfer of minors
expires on Monday, meaning Costa could
make his debut against Lleida Esportiu in
the King's Cup on Wednesday, with his
first league appearance set for Saturday at
home to Getafe.
Atletico are second in the league but
Costa's return cannot come soon enough
for Diego Simeone's side who are nine
points adrift of leaders Barcelona and had
their confidence rocked by elimination
from the Champions League group stage.
Their defence is as resolute as ever,
conceding just eight goals in 17 games,
but they have had serious difficulties
creating and converting chances, scoring
fewer goals (25) than the other teams in
the top four.
It may not take the 29-year-old Costa
long to catch up with his new teammates.
Antoine Griezmann is Atletico's leading
marksman with five league goals but
Costa will have to prove his fitness as his
last competitive game was for Spain in a
World Cup qualifier against Macedonia on
June 11.
Since Costa departed for London in 2014,
Atletico have spent 144.5 million euros
trying to replace him.
However, Mario Mandzukic, Griezmann,
Jackson Martinez, Luciano Vietto, Kevin
Gameiro, Angel Correa and Fernando
Torres have all failed to top his 27 league
goals in 2013/14 which helped Atletico to
break Barca's and Real Madrid's nine-year
stranglehold on the title.
Costa also won two Uefa Super Cups with
Atletico and the 2013 King's Cup.
"I want to thank the club from the
bottom of the heart for the effort they
made to bring me back here," said Costa.
"Today we present a footballer who
doesn't need any introduction," said
Atletico president Enrique Cerezo.
"This is his home and we're going to give
him the best welcome possible."
????? WELCOME HOME
??????We’ve missed that smile,
@DiegoCosta .
#AúpaAtleti#BienvenidoDiegoCostapi
— Atlético de Madrid
(@atletienglish) December 31,
2017

Ederson's
last-gasp
penalty
heroics
saved
Manchester City from defeat but a 0-0
stalemate at Crystal Palace on Sunday
brought the Premier League leaders'
record-breaking 18-match winning run to
an end.
Luka Milivojevic was presented with the
chance to seal a memorable victory for
Roy Hodgson's relegation-threatened side
when Wilfried Zaha was brought down by
Raheem Sterling in injury time.
But the Palace midfielder struck his spot-
kick too close to Ederson, allowing the
City goalkeeper to preserve his side's 21-
game unbeaten start to the league
campaign.
City's failure to score in a league game for
the first time since last April meant they
fell short in their bid to equal Bayern
Munich 19-game winning run of four
years ago, the longest in Europe's five
major leagues, set under their current
boss Pep Guardiola.
And City's afternoon was further soured
when Kevin De Bruyne was stretchered
off immediately after the spot-kick
following an ugly challenge by Palace
substitute Jason Puncheon.
Guardiola, who also said forward Gabriel
Jesus was likely to be out for up to two
months after an injury early in the game,
called for referees to take firm action.
"Please, referees, they have to protect
players," he said. "We were lucky against
Tottenham and against Newcastle. Today
we were not lucky.
"Referees have to protect. We know how
strong physically it is England but teams
miss big players, not just Manchester City.
The replay speaks for itself. We have to
protect players."
NO 'MAGIC FORMULA'
Hodgson claimed before the game there
was "no magic formula" to competing
with City, insisting his Palace side's hopes
of getting something from the game
hinged on working hard and defending
well while maintaining an attacking
threat.
The manager could be satisfied that
during the opening 45 minutes his players
stuck to the prescribed plan to the extent
that by the half-time break, the
frustration among Guardiola's players was
obvious.
There was an early sign the visitors might
not be at their best when a breakdown in
communication between Eliaquim
Mangala and Ederson led to the
goalkeeper directing an attempted
clearance against his centre-back,
presenting Christian Benteke with an
opportunity that he could not take.
Both sides were forced into early changes,
with Palace captain Scott Dann being
stretchered off in the 19th minute and
City striker Jesus following shortly
afterwards.
The subsequent reshuffle appeared to
affect the visitors more, with Palace
growing more into the game the longer
the half went on.
Sergio Aguero, Jesus's replacement,
struck the post in the 28th minute with a
deflected shot from the edge of the
penalty area but that proved to be a rare
moment of concern for home goalkeeper
Wayne Hennessey.
And while Palace were unable to carve
out many clear chances at the other end,
Wilfried Zaha was a constant threat down
the Palace left, frequently getting the
better of City right-back Kyle Walker.
An animated conversation between De
Bruyne and Leroy Sane confirmed the
sense that City were growing increasingly
uncomfortable.
Palace found it far harder to be as
expansive after the restart, when City
finally began to move through the gears.
But Hennessey proved equal to the task,
blocking Leroy Sane's close-range volley
at the far post and denying De Bruyne as
City struggled to find openings in a well-
drilled Palace backline.
And they should have entered the final 14
minutes of the game needing a goal to
get back on level terms after Andros
Townsend missed the home side's best
chance of the half before Milivojevic was
handed his late opportunity to clinch the
points.

An
apparent
gaffe by
Nike has
fired
speculation
that
Philippe
Coutinho
could leave
Liverpool
for Barcelona in the January transfer
window.
The sportswear giant, who manufacture
Barcelona's kit, advertised a Barca shirt on
their website with the Brazilian
midfielder's name on it.
Headlined "Where the magic happens",
the page, which has since been taken
down, continued with the message:
"Philippe Coutinho is ready to light up
Camp Nou."
Coutinho is sponsored by Nike and wears
their boots.
He handed in a transfer request in August
after Barcelona had a bid for the Brazilian
rejected, but the Reds then turned down
a further two offers.
The current La Liga leaders had offered
over £100 million ($135 million), but
Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group
publicly stated Coutinho was not for sale.
The 25-year-old missed the start of the
season with a back problem but has been
in outstanding form recently, scoring
seven goals in his last eight games.